The Way of the Beast
by HVulpes2.0
Summary: What if instead of learning the Catfist, Ranma learnt the Beastfist?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This is a parody inspired by the works of Ms. Takahashi. All characters that I have not created or borrowed from other sources are his. This is a Fan fiction and not meant to violate the rights of those who own the rights to the Ranma One Half series .I have no money and therefore not a good suing target. Thank you very much.

The Way of the Beast

Chapter One

Genma was looking for a way to train his son, ever since he had spent the last of his money on an all-you-can-eat special at that restaurant. He had meant to use the money to buy a rare training manual called the Nekoken, but now he didn't have a yen to his name. He needed something cheap and easy to teach his son. Or at least a good pile of bull plops to tell his son instead. Then the idea crept into his mind, an idea which could be used to train his son without Genma doing any work.

"Ranma, son, get over here. I have something very important to tell you." Genma said as he waited for his son to come closer to him so he could make his idea come true.

"Yes, Pops?" asked Ranma as he looked up to his father. The ten year old boy was just getting ready for his next training exercise. He was having fun with all of the work he was doing, even if it was sometimes not as fun as it could be.

"Son, I think it's time to kick your training up a notch. It is a tenant of the Saotome School of Anything Goes martial arts for the student of a master to create their own style of martial arts within the school. My own dearly departed master, god rest his soul for good, forced me to develop my own school based on my own personal skills. However, my styles were so powerful they had to be locked up for safety. When you're old enough for it to be safe, I will teach it to you. Yet it is your turn to shine! " said Genma as looked to see if his son was buying it. The boy's eyes were shining with joy, giving the older man thanks for the naivity of youth.

"So Pops, how do I do it? How do I make my style of martial arts?" asked Ranma, just shaking with excitement.

"I would recommend you either base it around something you know or something you love. However, this is part of the limits I must place on you as part of your training. While I can continue with training you in the raw Anything Goes school, you must work alone with only a few hints to develop your own martial arts. Your training begins now!" spoke the father as he smiled at his son.

Ranma smiled as he sat down where he was and began to think hard, sticking out his tongue as he did so. Genma left his son where he was as he tried to find some more money to ste... borrow. Or at least some one willing to pay for his victory saki.

In the Mind of Ranma Saotome...

Ranma was thinking hard on developing his own style of martial arts. He looked at the things he loved, and the major thing with came to mind was martial arts. It was his life after all, so it filled a large part of his heart. But even at this young age he knew, 'Making a martial art based on martial arts wouldn't be right, especially since Anything Goes lets ya learn any martial arts ya want. No, I have to try something else. But what else do I know and love?'

He looked over the information about martial arts in his mind and remembered something else. He knew, 'Many fighting styles are based on animals, so what if I used a style based on animals. Not just any animals, but all of them. I can use all of the powers of animals with my fighting skills.'

Then the truth hit him with a strong shock, 'To use all of the powers of animals, I'm going to have to know everything about animals. Where am I going to find that? It's not like I'm a zoo guy... or could I?'

'All of the answers I need will be at the zoo. If I can help out there and learn more about animals, I might be able to copy their powers for my own martial arts skills.' Ranma was so proud of his idea, he ran after his father trying to find him so he could explain it to him.

"Guess I better look at the bars for pops!" said Ranma as he headed to the market districts of the town they were staying at.

Training montage...

Ranma went to work learning everything he could about animals. His father managed to convince the zookeepers at the Tokyo Zoo to let Ranma help out part-time in exchange for knowledge of animals and for a paycheck. A paycheck Genma kept for paying the bills.

Ranma managed to be a great help with cleaning up the zoo with a modifed version of the Anything Goes style based on sweeping and mopping. The keepers kept Ranma from the animals for safety concerns, yet he was able to learn much from the vets in their employment.

Ranma also went to a boy's school with a certain lost boy as well. While in school, Ranma made use of the library by checking out all of the books on biology. Normally Ranma didn't like to learn, but since this was for his art, it gave him the motivation he needed. Teachers were surprised at his high grades in the natural sciences, given his rather lame scores in everything else beside physical education.

Ranma also watched the animals in the wild, could see what they could do and how they acted. From carnivore to omnivore to herbivore, he was becoming an expert in all things biological. This was expressing it's self in his fighting skills. He was moving more animal like, whether it was the quick strikes of a mantis or the slashing of tiger claws. Ranma continued to expand his knowledge of animals with scrolls on martial arts themselves, especially the estotric texts with all of the chi techniques.

Eventually, Ranma was able to discover a way to contact the chi connection which existed between all animal lifeforms. Chi was the lifeforce of all living things from inanimate objects like rocks to plants, animals and people. Ranma figured he could harmonize his own chi with those of the animals he knew so well. It took him weeks of medication, but he found the path to link with the beast kingdom.

Ranma found he could copy the abilities of an animal, just by focusing his chi on that animal. Focus on the strength of a bear, gain that strength only scaled to a human body. Think of a fish and he could breath water without gills. Think of a flea and gain the potential to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

This took three years since he started his path of martial arts skills. It took him another two years to experiment with this new martial arts technique. With the first breakthrough he could only do one animal ability at a time, which was limiting when contrasting it with the flexible of the root school. Yet with practice and study, he learned over time to duplicate more then one animal ability as long as it was the same animal. The next major breakthrough was the discovery of how to duplicate more then one animal at a time.

By the time Ryoga had challenged him to a duel behind the lost boy's house, Ranma was about to copy at least three animal abilities at once before he majorly drained his chi to exhastion. He was really hoping to demonstrate his new skills against Ryoga, who Ranma saw a powerful opponent. The boy with the umbrella had developed his own style from lessons on the streets, plus seemed to have a well-developed sense of strength and speed. As long as Ranma duplicated low end atributes of animals, like the strength of a boar, the match should be one of equals.

However, after waiting three days, Ranma slipped into unconciousness and was stolen away by his father. Buy the time he woke up, he was twenty miles to sea heading to China.

'Apparently, Pops wants to expand my training by taking me to China. He wants me to learn mainland schools of fighting. I just wish I could have left Ryoga a note about this. I'll just have to look him up when we get home and explain things to him. Still, Pops has a lot of faith in this training ground. What is so great about Jusenkyo?'

Much later...

Ranma still couldn't believe his father had taken him to a cursed training ground just because the old man couldn't read chinese. Ranma thought to herself, 'You would have thought he would have learned to read chinese given all of the martial arts created within that nation. I forced myself to learn to at least read several languages so I could find out more details on animal based martial arts, including chinese. If pops had just let me read the darn brosure instead of hidding it from me, I would be able to know what it was we were getting into.'

'Now I'm stuck as a girl half of the time, not to say that girls aren't a good thing. I just prefer not being one when I was born a boy. I had to relearn all of my martial arts again to fit with the changes in reach, strength and agility. Now he has pulled this engagemnt business on me as soon as we get back into Japan. Here we are at the Tendo home and dojo, home of my future fiancee and the Tendo style of anything goes.' thought Ranma as she knocked on the door, and waited for the answer.

"Ranma, my boy, welcome to my home. Where's my old friend Genma?" said a thin man with a moustache in a brown robe. Not to him was a pretty, short haired teen brunette in a traditional kimodo. Ranma really started to feel uncomfortable when the old man hugged her, giving him a good indication of her female body not being the son-in-law they had expected.

The male Tendo, as Ranma was guessing the man was, jumped back as if he had been bitten by a wild animal. He moved on to create the hourglass shape of a woman's body before he lost a battle against unconciousness. He fainted dead away in the middle of his own hallway. As he did so, two other girls had come running up from the inside of the house.

The first was taller and obviously older then the girl who had met him at the door. She was dressed in attractive clothing not too different from what a housewife might wear. Her long, lighter brown hair was tied behind her in a ponytail. The second girl had long hair as well, but it was a darker black which seemed to have a natural blue highlight to it in the right light. She was dressed in a martial arts gi as if she had been training before the door was answered. She was shorter then the other, and looked to be more of Ranma's age.

"Hello, I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about all of this, but I can explain everything which is happening." She told them as She waited for their reactions. She was very surprised at the actions of the one in the fancy dress as she started to poke and prod Ranma's breasts.

"I was expecting Mr. Saotome's son to be a boy, not a girl. Unless Mr. Saotome is not to well in the head or something." spoke the short haired girl as she continued to grope the breast.

"Could you quit it?" asked Ranma as she tried to slap the hand on her tits away.

The panda who had appeared from behind Ranma pulled out a giant sign which read, "I am perfectly sane. Not my fault the boy couldn't watch where he was going and got turned into a girl."

"Oh my, what a talented panda. I didn't think panda's knew how to write like that. How long did it take you to training it to do that?" asked the eldest girl from what the red haired woman could see.

"Nabiki, could you stop picking on our guest, she looks like she's been through enough at the moment. Hello, my name is Akane Tendo. My older sister Nabiki was the one... focused on your breasts. My oldest sister Kasumi was the one commenting on your panda. Do you practice martial arts and is it connected to how you trained your panda so well?" asked the girl in the martial arts outfit.

"It's a long story, but I do practice martial arts. As with Saotome school tradition, I am trying to create my own martial arts style. To become a master in my school I have to add to it's tradition with new martial arts. Currently, I am mastering a style of combat which allows me to mimic the abilities of animals using my chi and some kata." Ranma told the girls gather around her, figuring since this was a sister school and pops was going to engage him to them, they could be trusted.

"So does the Tendo tradition have a requirement for masterhood, and if so how far have you guys have come to mastering it. I mean I have been tring for the last five years to get my style to something which would be respectible for a master. How long have you been trying?" asked Ranma as she looked at the girls, trying to judge their combat skills.

"Kasumi and me mostly use martial arts as a way to keep fit and keep from getting fat. Akane is the only one of us who takes the training serious, and father hasn't been training anyone in the style for a long time. I also haven't heard of anything needed to become a master of the Tendo school. Then again I haven't heard about the Saotome school till today." said Nabiki, as she looked harder at Ranma.

"How would you like to test out you skills in a battle between you and myself? I would love to see this new style you have developed." asked Akane as she nodded in one direction, which was the same way the dojo was from what she saw from the outside.

Moments later...

Akane was getting ready for the battle between herself and Ranma. It looked like the redhaired, busty girl was standing like she wasn't ready for battle. The Tendo girl was getting annoyed that after all of the talk of a new style, this girl wasn't taking it seriously. So she told the Saotome girl, "I guess I'm going to force you to show your style. Hiyah!"

With that Akane run into an attack, fist pulled back for a rapid push of force. As she closed in on Ranma, her opponent said, "Shell of the Turtle" ! Ranma then moved his hands to block any attack which the redhead would be facing head on from Akane. Akane's fist connected with his forearm, only to stop like it was hitting harden bone. In many ways it did feel like she was puching directly into the shell of a turtle, only one with an even harder shell then she had experience before.

She pulled back as she shook off her hand from the sudden stop she had experienced. Before she could do anything, Ranma called out another attack, "Speed of the Wolf"! Then the Saotome girl attack with a number of super rapid strikes, yet instead of punched there was another form of attack. Ranma had decided to strike with tickle attacks on Akane, causing the girl in the gi to start to giggle uncontrollable.

The Tendo daughter was trying to get control of herself from this unusual attack. Ranma let up for a minute to allow Akane to make a retreat from the tickle fight, leaving the black haired girl to get angrier at the situation she was in. She thought to herself, 'She's not taking me seriously, she's treating this as a game more then a sparring match. The fact of the matter is her style is superhuman. I have to find a way to break her technique or to spring a surprise attack.'

Akane took on the mind she could beat Ranma with a fake out with her attack, as long as Ranma's turtle shell didn't cover his entire body. Preparing to launch what would be an obvious punch, she then moved into a sweeping kick against the legs of the other girl. Only to hit a solid obsticle again as it seemed Ranma's defense did extend to his legs.

Akane limped back a few feet as she felt the pain in her legs from hitting something hard. She was trying to avoid the blows she used to break concrete against the other girl, yet she was starting to consider using the rock breaking blows. Then again it would be consider rude by Kasumi to break the bones of a guest on their first day in the Tendo home. She needed a new plan to beat the red haired girl, yet nothing seemed to be coming up given her powers.

'It would be a whole lot easier if she was attacking me, then I could use her force against her. I wonder if those turtle and wolf powers would be any use if turned back on her. I just can't figure out a way to come out on top with these attacks, and it's bugging the hell out of me.' she thought as she circled Ranma, looking for a weak spot.

Finally she made her choice, "I just can't think of a way to over come your style. I might have some moves which could over come your defenses, I just don't want to bring it out in a friendly spar. Kasumi would kill me if I was to break your bones."

"I can see the strength in your moves, so I have no doubt you could break the strengthening the "Shell of the Turtle". However, there are a number of animals which have massive regenerative properties like certain lizards or starfish. Any one of those could be used by myself to heal my wounds with rapid speed." Ranma said as she walked up to Akane and shook her hand.

"I just glad you're not a boy, " she told her as she took Ms. Saotome's hand. She continued, "No offense, but I hate boys!"

Ranma just frowned at those words.

Later in the Tub...

Ranma was thinking over the fact he was going to have to tell the Tendos, he could change sexes with the application of water. He had already turned back into a male in the tub and was deciding on the wording of his next little talk with Mr. Tendo and his daughters.

'I know it will be important, but I also know if I was them, I would be freaking out at the new. I shouldn't be surprise if they don't react the best when confront with the curse. I'm glad I forced myself to become more educated during my studies of the veternary sciences. I think many of my rougher edges got smoothed off under the guidance of my sensei.' Ranma thought as he rose from the tub to dry off.

"Of course, being the son of Genma Saotome does cause a lot more rough edges to emerge." Ranma said to himself as he dried off. Only for the door to open while he was naked and Akane to step in, also naked. They looked at each other with saucer eyes before Akane stepped out of the room, then screaming her head off.

'I must be cursed in more ways then one. Likely due to who my father is.' Ranma thought as he wrapped a towel around him.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: This is a parody inspired by the works of Ms. Takahashi. All characters that I have not created or borrowed from other sources are his. This is a Fan fiction and not meant to violate the rights of those who own the rights to the Ranma One Half series .I have no money and therefore not a good suing target. Thank you very much.

The Way of the Beast

Chapter Two

Akane went running from the bathroom with a sense of shock, fear and most of all rage. She had been seen naked by a boy without his clothes. This caused her to retreat from the room, but on the top of her gi to cover herself and go looking for a weapon which she could use to stomp the pervert. Running without stopping, she eventually found the dinner table where her father and some man she didn't know were eating.

'A good slamming of wood against the skull of that pervert will teach him a lesson. Teach him not to peep on unsuspecting girls when they are trying to take a bath.' thought youngest Tendo as she lifted the table above her head. Everyone seemed to enter the room as she took the piece of furniture and stare at her, likely the result of her screaming earlier.

"Akane, what are you doing?" asked Nabiki as she looked at her sister, likely think the younger girl a freak once again.

"What does it look like? There's a pervert in the bathroom which needs bashing! " said Akane in an extremely angry vocal tone, still shaken from the event she had witnessed.

"Why didn't you just bash him in the bathroom then? Why did you need to come out here for the table when you can crush concrete? " continued Nabiki's questioning as she made valid and logical points.

"Because I was scared, is that alright? I only just noticed a PERVERT in the BATHROOM, Nabiki! " Akane finished as she looked for her way back which wouldn't alert the lech. Likely he was a Peeping Tom and knew their home's layout.

"I hope that Ranma is alright, she was suppose to be taking a bath in there too. You don't think that anything bad has happened to her, do you? " asked Kasumi as she became concern for the new girl in the Tendo home.

"I wouldn't worry, truth is... I am Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this." came a deep male voice as all turned to look at a tall, dark haired young man entering the room. He was dressed in Ranma's clothes which were fitting him well. There was more staring as all of them were silent, until Akane dropped the table on her head.

Later, around the Tendo dinner table...

Ranma and his father were both in male form and were sitting next to a long edge of the table and close to the doorway outside the home. The Tendo sisters were on the other long edge of the table, with mostly confused looks... except the rage and annoyance from the youngest one. The Tendo elder was sitting at the shorter edge between the two families.

"How do I explain this... It began when we went to China, we travelled for many days and many nights till we reached the Bayankala mountain range, south of Mount Kensei, in the Qinghai province. We arrived at our destination, Jusenkyo. A legendary training ground where we would test our skills." started Genma before he was interrupted by his son.

"What neither of us did was respect the guide enough to listen to his tales, which would have told us all of the hundreds of springs were cursed. Each person who falls into the pools are given a curse, to take the form of the being or object which first fell into the pool which could have happened thousands of years ago. No, I made the mistake of jumping on the bamboo polls in the middle of the springs. Then my father and I fought until he fell into a pool where a panda fell, which surprised me. Enough for a cheap shot to knock me down into the pool of the drowned girl, giving me my own curse." continued Ranma as he noted the most important parts of the story.

"Ranma, you sound like a girl..." said the elder Saotome, as he grabbed the younger one and launched him over his shoulder into the air. The boy flew directly into the koi pond of the Tendo clan, ending in what was an obvious splash as the boy disappeared under the water. From the ripples of the entrance into the drink, popped up a redheaded female in Ranma's clothes.

A primal seeming anger seemed to cross Ranma's face before it was held back, making the lengths of the girl's maturity becoming obvious. There was something feral about the girl at the same time she showed of a great control of those same feral instinct. The young Saotome was choosing her words wisely as she said, "I was willing to sacrifice my life for my art, old man. It is expected of a true martial artist to expect pain on the path of perfection. I wasn't willing to sacrifice my manhood for the art, it's just something you're not expecting to give up for combat skills. In fact it lead to a delay in my training, since I had to adjust to my new body. Gravity, weight distrubution and length are all changed with the female form. I had to go back and work on all of the basic moves to adjust them so I wouldn't trip or miss when I used them. The exact same thing you had to do with your larger panda body, pops."

"Well, it's your own fault for falling into the pool. Anyway as you can you see the cold water activates the curse, which turns you into your curse form. To reverse the transformation, one must be covered with warm or hot water to cause the victum's true form to be revealed." said Genma as his new daughter entered the home soaking wet with cold water. The older heavier man took out a steaming kettle and poured the boiling water on his child. The transformation took less then a blink of an eye to occur as female became male, angry girl became angrier boy.

"Pops, it doesn't have to be that hot to turn me back and you know it. You keep pushing your luck like that pops, you will be getting the horns, the teeth and the claws. Understand, Father? " asked Ranma as the gather Tendo family wonder what it was Ranma was telling his father, or why Mr. Saotome looked so nervious. The man in glasses was scratching the back of his head and laughing without any sense of joy in it.

"Well, it's not much of a problem. Here are my daughters... Kasumi who is nineteen, Nabiki who is seventeen and Akane who is sixteen. Pick any one that you want and she will be your..." continued Mr. Tendo before being given a gentle nudge in the ribs by Ranma.

"First off, I am not quite sure I am for this engagement... even with the risk of dishonour I will take with breaking it. My father has not been the most honourable man, so I doubt there isn't something in his past which would cause dishonour to your family if the two families are joined. We wouldn't want to dishonour the Tendo school for crimes caused by the Saotome school.

Another factor is the fact your daughters and myself have only just met today. Neither side could expect to build a successful marriage without trying to get to know each other. If I was engaged to Kasumi and found myself falling for Nabiki or Akane, it would disgraceful to all sides involved... would it not, Tendo-san?" answered Ranma before anyone else could speak on the matter.

Akane was at least a bit relieved that the... boy was trying to postpone the engagement, it gave the youngest Tendo daughter time to find a way to remove the distasteful action of her father entirely. It was not very surprising the react on her father on Ranma's first comment.

"What would these dishonourable acts be that you commited, Saotome?" asked Soun as he looked hard at his larger, old friend.

"Nothing, nothing. Just some of the same stuff we both pulled off while under the thumb of... the Master. It was a necessity for the boy's training, so he didn't get soft. You know how it was under 'his' training, what he did so we didn't get soft." said Genma, as this was one of the first Akane had heard of her father's master.

"Yes, I remember Saotome. The cruelty, the fear, the tears. All of the hard work which broke us down and built us up into the master we are today. I understand the needs which forced you into those dark deeds, like those of the past. I just wished that you had allowed me to help you." said Soun as he became more thoughtful as if he was remembering past days.

"Ranma does seem to be making the mature choice. We just don't know each other well enough to have any sort of relationship right now." commented Kasumi as she looked at her other sister.

"We do know they're the strange people we have ever met, don't know many people who can change their shape with water or use that martial arts Ranma used before. Is that connected with Jusenkyo too? I mean those pools must also have plenty of animals who have drowned in them. You're martial arts would seem to fit in with that kind of theme, right?" asked Nabiki as she pointed out the previous martial art Ranma had used as a girl in combat against Akane.

"The fact of the matter is my martial arts started before my trip to Jusenkyo, even with the nature of some of the pools in the area. My style was based on the needs for mastership within the Saotome School, which state one have to invent a new form of martial arts to become a master. Such as my father did before his master, this is the deed which has to be performed so one can gain the title." said Ranma, as the Tendo male looked at his Saotome friend. Genma made some kind of dismissal motion as the two of them looked at the children.

"I've haven't heard of this before? If the Tendo school is the sister school of the Saotome one, wouldn't it have a similar tradition? Right, father?" asked Nabiki looking at her father with a questioning eye on the details given.

"Um, it's..." started Soun before Genma interrupted him.

"Of course, it's the tradition. Soun just had it slip his mind with all of you girls to take care of. It's the same tradition in face. Each student must develop a new school without help of their sensei or master in order to be granted the master title. Each student must find their way into their new art by themselves. They remain students until they have created something to add to the lore of the Anything Goes style." continued Genma as he seemed to be trying to explain what was happening before any more questions to be asked. The girls looked at the two older men with eyes still wondering how they had not been told this, but they decided to continue with the conversation with the new guests.

"I still say that you're a pervert." said Akane as he anger still burn at a lower temperture.

"I didn't expect to be distrubed within the tub and didn't expect you to walk in on me. You were the one to enter without knocking or making yourself known, to give me a chance to make it known you shouldn't run into the bathroom with me. It doesn't make me a pervert just to accidently view you naked, just like you're not a pervert for view me naked.

In the course of studying my animal arts, I have seen many creatures naked as well as doing other things like giving birth or taking a crap. Heck, I've inseminated animals for breeding programs and study feces for diseases within the animals. Not such a great deal with me, especially since I have no choice but to see my female self naked constantly when I bath or when I have to go to the bathroom in that form.

I can appreacate the female form, but I'm not going to loose my mind and act like an idiot in front of it either. You must have some senstivity to being nude or something if this is bothering you. I take it you've had a bad experience?" continued Ranma as he explained his position.

Akane did seem to flare a little bit as her hands clenched and unclenched as she spoke, "It's different when a boy sees a girl then when a girl sees a boy. But you are acting a lot more mature then the boys I normally deal with. I still wouldn't compare my body with that of an animal, I am a human being. Now if you excuse me, I'll be going to my room."

With this the youngest daughter left, her feet not stomping but still landing enough to make a loud thumping noise.

"You have to excuse Akane, she's just high spirited." continued Kasumi as she looked at where her sister was leaving.

"Lucky she didn't drop a table on you like she wanted. Has to be the fact you aren't as immature as some of the boys at our school. They're the bad experience you mentioned. So I take it that you have done some studying of animal husbandry in your past from the sounds of it?" asked Nabiki, as she tried to gain some more details from the boy.

"Helped out at the zoo for cash they gave my Pops, as well as a few farms. Most of the money went to food and sake, his favourite vices. It did give me the understanding of the bodies of animals with help from books from the library. Add to that all of the information I got out of the various martial arts manuals, many of which included animal stances and forms. Gave me the structure to work with, added chi training to fill it out by altering my body or using my life energy to mimic animal abilities. Even spent time in museums to study extinct animals for some moves. So there is very little about animals I don't know, including the human animal." answered Ranma as he continued with his arts.

"That's very interesting, I never thought the martial arts could be used in regard to other studies. It makes me rethink my views of my own arts. I only tend to use them for making myself fit, but I wonder if I can use my medical knowledge with the Anything Goes style?" asked Kasumi as she become much more thoughtful looking then before.

"Anything can be a martial arts, that's what Pop says and it's the few things he gets right. There are many healing chi techniques and abilities once you have master your physical body. The way I created my school was I looked at something I was interested in, of course for me it was martial arts. Then I pointed out to myself the use of animals in martial arts and the beast fist was born. You should try to find something you're interested in and transform it into a combat style which best suits you if you want the Tendo mastership." replied the sexchanger as he pointed out the 'rules' of becoming a master.

The two Tendo women still in the room with Ranma thought this over and wonder what their sister would do with this information. Or what they could do with this new information.

Elsewhere....

A warrior was tracking the trail of the other woman, the woman who had defeated her on the challenge log all of those months ago. It had been all so simple at first, then it became all so complex when time went on. The girl and her panda had eaten a good chunk of the warrior's victory feast, so the warrior felt she should challenge the newcomer over the meal which had been taken. The warrior had believed she could take the girl in combat, even with the small hints the opponent was a fighter as well.

What she hadn't expected was the complex martial arts style the redhead had displayed, calling out an attribute of a named animal and some how gaining that attribute for the opponent. Strength of a boar and speed of a wolf had managed to make their mark, but the agility of a monkey manged to give the opponent the edge of the combat log by way of footing. It was not the kind of combat which the warrior was ready for and it was more apparent when the warrior lost her footing and fell of the log.

Like any of her tribe when loosing to a woman, she had given the Kiss of Death on the girl's cheek. Once they guide they had with then explained it to them, the panda grabbed the girl and managed dash with superhuman speed out of the village. This would be the point normally when the warrior would pack up for the hunt of the opponent. Except the warrior's great grandmother managed to hop up to the warrior with a crossed look on her face.

"What am I going to do with you, Great Granddaughter? Do you know what you have done?" asked the old woman who seemed only three feet tall.

"I gave the outsider the kiss of death like it says in our laws, what is wrong with that?" asked the warrior as she was confused with the tone her elder was taking.

"Normally this would be the regular course of action, but their are additional laws and exceptions to all of the laws including this one. The most important of this case is when a female warrior displays a certain skill or inventiveness useful for the entire tribe. This girl seems to have invented a new style of martial arts which links chi of all of the animals in the world with the combat arts, a unique use of life force for increased power.

If we can get this power into the tribe, we might be able to increase our chance of surviving an attack by enemies like the communist. In many ways it is a more improved version of what the legendary Musk were said to do with their selective breeding programs. This is due to gaining more then one animal's strength in combat, rather then the Musk and their single animal bloodlines were claimed to do.

The rules in this regard state the kiss of death can be negated in exchange for training in the skill used by the outsider. This would gain what is desire by the tribe so we can strengthen our people, the honour gained from that is much greater then the honour regained by killing a single girl. Of course if this was a boy, it would be a completely different set of rules. You should really take some time to brush up on the by-laws and other sections of our legal history.

So instead of hunting the girl to death, you will have to hunt her down so you can learn her martial arts style so she could retain her life. We had better start with the guide and see what is happening." lecture her great grandmother as she explained the situation to her.

Of course the guide had an interesting tale to tell, which included the legendary Jusenkyo at the surprise of the tribe which had gather. Turns out the girl and her panda was a boy and his father, which meant the warrior had to review and entire new section of the tribes laws and legal system. Which had been a pain as the warrior had spent the questioning of the guide reviewing the laws in regard to female outsiders and now she had to look at the ones involving male outsiders. So in the time of a few hours, she had to do twice the reading and twice the work.

They had also learnt from the guide the nation of origin of the duo as Japan, the nation across the sea. Which meant the warrior had to do more work as she had to brush up on the outsider language. So half of her time was tracking the duo and the other half was doing reading homework for all of legal information and all of the language details she needed. Which was not putting her in a good mood at the moment, so she had avoid the girl-boy until she had more control of her emotion. Which she was regaining on the ocean voyage as she finished her one reading assignment, now she only had to find a way to understand Japanese so she didn't look like an idiot.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: This is a parody inspired by the works of Ms. Takahashi. All characters that I have not created or borrowed from other sources are his. This is a Fan fiction and not meant to violate the rights of those who own the rights to the Ranma One Half series .I have no money and therefore not a good suing target. Thank you very much.

The Way of the Beast

Chapter Three

'Information is power and power is money. Words to live by, words which have kept my family and myself in the black for the most part. Which was why I'm asking questions on topics which I would normally ignore. Martial arts are just not me, except when they seem to mimic the superpowers of characters in manga. Or when they seem to reveal something which my father seemed to have chosen to hid from my sisters and myself. Either one of those reasons is important to know for possible future use for benefits they can provide.

Curses, chi based animal powers, hidden secrets of the Anything School... I don't like not knowing everything about a situation. Especially if I can figure it out, since this means I can't see what effects it would have on all of our lives. I am going to have to keep my eyes on Ranma and his father, as well as try to get more information from daddy about what he has been keeping from us. Or more exactly, what Mr. Saotome has convinced him to add to the school of Tendo style Anything Goes.' thought Nabiki as she began to write into a notebook to sketch the ideas she had in her head. The more thoughts she could get down, the more she could organize them into a pattern.

So far on the note pad page were three circles with different headings. Curses, Beast First and Secrets. From those circles came lines with different major ideas or questions. Things like secret master requirements, secret engagements, mysterious masters and such just from the Secrets heading.

'Another question is why Kasumi was interested in what Ranma was saying? Is it just because he was more mature then most of the other boys his age, living up to the maturity she felt older men had. Which also asked the question why Ranma is so mature, given that he had learnt biology and not manners. Learning languages at such a young age should make him less skilled in his native language. More mysteries which need answers, answers I want.

So what am I going to do to get those answers?' asked Nabiki to herself as she prepared for bed and the school in the morning. As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered what would happen when Ranma met the Hentai Horde... or Kuno when they ran into Akane.

The next morning...

Akane was just returning from her run, making a few kicks and punches in the air as she tried to reflect on Ranma and his art. Also on the secrets which seemed to be linked with the mastership of her school of martial arts. It did cause her to ask herself, 'What do I love so much which I would want to turn into a martial arts? Or what could I base a martial arts on which I could keep up with?'

She walked into gates of her home... only to step back out of the yard of her home. What had forced her back was the show of Ranma and his father sparring with each other, spending most of their time in the air. Quick kicks and punches were being exchanged between the two of them with rapid speed, not wolf like speed but still above human. She slipped by them to the dinning room where her father was at the table reading the paper.

Nabiki was coming down from her room with a toothbrush in her mouth and her pajamas. She seemed irratated since she was not a morning person as she said, "They sure seem to be full of pep this morning."

Her father just nodded as Kasumi came into the room with a pot of food, "Mr. Saotome, Ranma, let's have some dinner shall we?"

This did not stop the two male Saotomes from fighting in that instant, they continue to exchange punches. This continued until they jump apart from each other. Akane could not argue with the facts, "I guess that they are both pretty good."

"So energenic," said Kasumi as she sat at the table for the meal.

"Okay Ranma, let's break for breakfast," said Genma as he prepared for a final push of martial arts when he jumped up again. Ranma did his own jumping and they exchanged punches again, but this time Genma took a moment to make a punch which forced Ranma into the Tendo koi pond. A girl emerged from the water looking at her father as he laughed and said, "You're getting sloppy, Ranma."

"Only because I was trying for pure Anything Goes style rather then Beast Fist style, if I had used the Seijuuken I would not have been in the water. You know that, right Panda?" asked the new girl as she sent a wave of water to her father, which was replaced by a panda in his clothes.

Akane watched at the older male Saotome, try to drown the new female Saotome. She watched wide eyed as she heard her eldest sister say, "I guess that Mr. Saotome is going to need some else to eat."

Akane turned when she heard the banging of something on the table, which revealed a pile of cooked bamboo. Ranma looked up and said, "You might want to avoid giving pops bamboo, gives him unbelievable gas and the runs. Not sure why, since that's all that pandas are suppose to eat."

Later...

Ranma had taken to going to their school well enough, even if he wasn't wearing a uniform. Given his curse this might be a must for him to deal with sudden changes. Akane had expected for Nabiki to leave guiding Ranma to their school in her hands, but her elder sister had decided to walk with them. From what she was beginning to say, Akane was guessing Nabiki is more curious about this strange boy.

"So how come you're so good at Japanese, given you experience with other languages?" asked Nabiki, for some reason Akane was not sure about.

"Martial arts linguistic, a type of ninjutsu for the learning of languages. The uses of deception and hidden meanings in multiple languages including body language, which is useful for the combat arts. The way my father brought me up, martial arts was a basic building block in my life. If a subject could be translated into a format of combative training, I could learn and absorb it better then if it was just left on it's own.

It's the man reason I was able to pick up my biology lessons so fast, was the fact it was for my master level training. One of the zookeepers at one of the zoos I was a master of both linguistics ninjutsu and etiquette style kendo, the latter being a style to mix the combat style of samurai with the manner of a nobleman or their servant. She came from a unique kind of family, the reunions were filled with verbal combat." finished Ranma as he seemed to be speaking of two martial arts which had to be a joke, who would have heard of verbal martial arts.

"You have to be kidding. Linguistics ninjutsu and etiquette style kendo, you really want us to believe those kind of martial arts exist?" asked Nabiki, as she rolled her eyes at the comment.

"You wouldn't believe the number of things people have turned into fighting schools. I have seen..." started Ranma as he jumped off the fence he had been walking on. Only to come into range of a woman spreading water on the street as part of a japanese ritual, which had the expected result. Exit male Ranma and enter female Ranma.

"Okay, does anyone know of a place where I can get warm water?" asked Ranma as she tried to wring out her clothing.

They took a detour to a place the Tendo family knew well, it was a little medical clinc in one of the buildings on the way to the high school. Akane was taking the lead as Nabiki followed her and Ranma took up the rear.

"We should be able to borrow some warm water here, but you got to admit you deserved it for making up those stories." said Akane as she opened the door to the main clinc room.

"Wasn't making it up. Anyways if it wasn't for the fact I didn't want to arrive on the first day of school as a girl, we wouldn't be here. I just didn't want people mistaking me for a girl who turns into a boy instead of the truth." answered Ranma as she continued to try and dry out her clothes, even if she was just going to get the wet again.

"Worse, we're all going to be late." continued Ranma as she took a better look around. It was then the skeleton hand touched her shoulder, causing her to jump and climb the open door. She turned as the door started to swing, to show a skeleton which soon scratched it's head.

"Pardon me, " came the falsetto voice of a man, who appeared behind the skeleton as he took his full height. He was a brown haired man in circle glasses in what looked like a bluish-black gi of some kind. He was wearing his hair in a ponytail.

"Hi, no need to worry. This is my skeleton, Betty. Lovely complexion, don't you think?" asked the man as Ranma still hung from the door.

"Relax Ranma, this is just our family doctor. Dr. Tofu meet Ranma Saotome, she's a friend who's family is staying with us for the time being. My sister needed to run in and get some hot water for Ranma." said Nabiki as she tried to help Ranma down from the door, only to have the door slam shut when Akane ran back into the room.

The door swung open again as the redhead's hands throbbed in pain as she entered the room. Tofu-sensei looked at Akane and asked her, "So no injuries today then? Nothing wrong?"

"No, Tofu-sensei. I haven't been doing anything which would cause any damage for a while now." Akane lowered her head as she began to hide her blushing so her sister and Ranma could not see it, If she had looked at Ranma, she would have seen a look of understanding on the redhead's face.

"Guess, we'll be going. We don't want to miss the bell for school, thanks Tofu-sensei." said Nabiki as she almost dragged the other two women out of the room.

Later on the way to high school...

Ranma was running on the face as Nabiki and Akane were on the ground. He had been answering Nabiki's questions on the top of his curse and his martial arts, which he was guessing was based on her desire for understanding what she didn't know. He had no skill with human psychology but he had some understanding of animal behaviour including human behaviour. He was also detecting the behaviours of Akane with regard to Dr. Tofu.

"So Dr. Tofu is a good martial artist, he seems to have the ability to sneak up on me without making a sound and has a above average amount of ki. Likely great in his line of work, she he can use his own ki to heal other people's life force." said Ranma as he made his observation on the matter clear.

Akane looked at the boy on the fence and had to agree, "He's a really good martial artist even if he doesn't look like it, but I didn't know about the chi ability. I can just remember all of the times I got hurt and we go to him so he could make it better. He always succeeded in making me feel better after I saw him then when I came in."

"So this is why your attracted to men like the emotional mature Tofu-sensei, rather then boys our age? Like your sister Kasumi, to a degree?" asked Ranma, as he mentioned what he had discovered.

Akane stopped for a second as it registered before she continued, "I guess you're right. I like men more then I like boys. In fact I hate boys because of the way they act..."

With this Akane jumped up into the air as a horde of young men approached where Ranma and Tendos were walking. She began to fight with the boys as they all proceeded to ask her out on a date. Ranma turned to Nabiki and asked her, "What's this about?"

"It's a long story. Either Akane or me will explain it to you later. Don't worry about it since Akane is one of the best fighter in the school, and the boys want to date her and not deck her. Unfortunately there's another problem which is going to appear soon, we might as well move into the school. You to get out of her way and me to meet my friends." explained Nabiki as she headed to the school yard. Ranma moved to the gate while avoiding boys, either standing up or laying down.

He jumped on the wall of the school yard to watch Akane finish her battle which was done in record time, only a few minutes after eight thirty. She let out a sigh and said, "You think they would have learnt by now..."

It was then a rose was fired out at Akane, who caught it with amazing skills. She seemed to groan as Ranma noticed the sky start to darken and thunder rolled. A voice rang out, "Unearthly or happy is the rose distilled which whithering on the virgin thorn grows, lives and dies in single blessedness."

The dark haired older boy in a blue shirt and black pants, dressed up to resemble a samurai. Which is wooden sword matched perfectly as he continued to speak, "These WEAKLINGS are a boorish lot. They fought for the pleasure of your compnay Akane, if only the could defeat you that is. What fools these mutants be."

The thunder rolled again as Akane took her time to answer, "Oh Kuno, excuse me please."

"Oh, though she be little, she be fierce. Wilst thou spar with me?" asked the older boy which Ranma guessed was name Kuno, as he moved his sword from the side and pointed at Akane.

"I guess that you're popular with the boys, Akane." said Ranma as he jumped down to stand next to her.

"Just stand out of the way or you're going to get hurt." said Akane as she looked hard and intense at the boy.

Before Ranma could speak, Kuno started to talk again as he pointed his wood at Ranma, "You there? You are being offly familiar with Akane?"

"Well, yeah? But..."

"Yeah, but what Ranma?" asked Akane as she turned to not look at the boy in the red top with the curse.

"Who do you think you are, you insolant whelp? Tell me how you know Akane?"

"I'm..."

"Wait... Is it not the custom to give one's own name first? Well, then mine I shall give. I am the undefeated captain of this school's kendo. The rising new star of the high school fencing world, the sound of my voice strikes fear into my foes. My peers call me the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen."

In the school, in her class room Nabiki was standing with her friends. After being asked if she knew about this a head of time, Nabiki responded, "Nope, last I heard he was calling himself Shooting Star."

Back in the yard with Ranma, Kuno and Akane... Ranma was trying to understand what to say next.

"I'm Ranma Saotome, age sixteen. I'm a student of the Saotome school of Anything Goes martial arts, and my father plus me are staying in the Tendo Martial Arts Training Hall."

"You're staying at the Tendo's , under the same roof as the beautiful Akane?" aske Kuno as he charged with his wooden sword as Ranma jumped out of the way.

"Akane, can you please hold my bag. Thanks, " said Ranma as he tossed her the bag before he continued, "I accept your challenge. Shell of the Tortoise."

They two fighters stopped for a moment as a crowd gather at the windows before Kuno answed for this challenge, "The vengence of heaven is slow but sure. So you have been hounding Akane? I, Tatewaki Kuno, shall bring you to justice."

"No, I do not go after a woman who says no to me. Or fight her for no reason, like it looks like you and these guys are doing. You'll have better luck with flowers or chocolates. So are you going to make a move or am I going to have to make the first move?"

Lightning strike as Kuno charged again, sword in hand, "Silence, fool!"

Kuno charged straight at Ranma but the boy took his moment to study the opponent with the weapon. He waited for the moment to make the right move, and did so when Kuno moved into an overhead swing. Ranma jumped and dodged out of the range of the blade, which continued with it's path and the momentum of the older man's run, and struck a crack into the wall of the yard.

'Hmm, air pressure or something from the look at it. He barely touched the wall and it split open like a torn paper door. I'm going to need something stronger then a shield of tortoise shell, maybe use something more dense or old school. The closest I can think of are crustaceans or Ankylosaur like dinos, so let's try the latter for it's size and strength.' thought Ranma as he called out, "Shell of the Anklosaur."

This occured while Ranma moved to stand on the side of a tree, only for Kuno to move his blade to slice down the tree Ranma had been on. Ranma was working on some kind of combination move which could end this quickly, the idea of being able to regenerate his injuries were poping up again and again. Either that or trying to avoid being hit by the attack in the first place.

"Hey, your slippery devil!"

"Wait a minute..." said Ranma as he moved in quickly to fight against the swordman, who used it blade to try and jab at Ranma with his wooden sword. Ranma continued to speak and he avoided the sword points looking for weakness, "If you want to go out with Akane, it's alright with me. I'm not the one who is the one to decide the matter, it's all up with Akane. But I think you're blowing your chances with her given the way you have been acting."

"I will not allow you to insult me or insult the woman I love. Hold still so I can bring justice down on you." said Kuno as he charged again. Ranma jumped out of the way and then moved into a downward motion while saying something no one could hear. The he moved to strike at Kuno, who movied into the position with his sword to attack Ranma. All of this as lightning started to strike down at the earth, as the storm built up. They moved into a freeze where the sword was just inches from Ranma's neck and Ranma held his finger on Kuno's head.

This was broken by a panda running in quickly by holding a kettle before he grabbed Ranma, who seemed to have gained red hair, and rushing into the school. Ranma could feel the point on his neck where Kuno's air strike had bruised him, which was healing with a starfish's regenerative abilities. Self-healing could be dangerous since cancer was mostly based on cell duplicating out of control, but his ki it's self would act as a regulator for the power he was borrowing from the animal kingdom. If he even lost conciousness, the instinctive power of his ki would keep his body from killing it's self since the power was ki based.

This didn't mean that a natural form of cancer or any other disease could effect him, but he had a greater tolerance against such illnesses given his control of his own life force energies. As he healed, he now just had to answer the question which was obvious given his position.

"What the hell is pops thinking?"


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: This is a parody inspired by the works of Ms. Takahashi. All characters that I have not created or borrowed from other sources are his. This is a Fan fiction and not meant to violate the rights of those who own the rights to the Ranma One Half series .I have no money and therefore not a good suing target. Thank you very much.

The Way of the Beast

Chapter Four

"I can unstand the reason for getting me out of the rain before the curse was revealed, even if I know it will be coming out sooner or later, but why drag me into the P.E. equipment room pops? " asked Ranma as he shook off the hot water which made him male again. The sex-changer then asked also, "Why interrupt my fight with Kuno? I was just getting into the right groove for the fight, knowing how to use my martial arts to their best abilities."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Ranma. Kuno is a lot better then he looks. You should check your neck for... wait, didn't you get a hit by Kuno's sword on your neck?" asked Akane as she looked in on the equipment room, checking the view on the neck of the martial artist.

"Used my beast fist to regenerate the damage down from the pressure wave of Kuno's swordsmanship, but I am coming up with a counter or two against the attack. Speed with a little boost of protection and some improved healing abilities to neutralize the effects of the swings... then I can take him down easier then last time. Seems like a skill built for the Anything Goes school to build and adapt to a challenger's attack, right pops?" said Ranma as he seemed to be thinking of more fighting.

"Besides, I think my little gift to him might be less likely to go away then my own injuries." said Ranma with a sly little smile.

In Classroom 2-E...

Kuno sat in his class where a reddening bruise formed the letters for the word 'Insufferable' in the Japanese language, which he stared at in a mirror as he raged against the opponent he had gained.

"So you mean to tell me you didn't even feel him tocuh you when he pounded it into his forehead?" asked Nabiki as she looked on to her classmate.

"I can't believe I thought Ranma Saotome was good, when he can't even spell. This is the correct spelling of my name... " said the samurai wanabe as he wrote it out in chalk on the black board. The word on the board was Kuno's name which could also be translated as Capable, but while he was writting this word there was another person writting on the board beside him.

"Isn't more like this?" asked Nabiki as she wrote out the word for Incapable next to Kuno on the board.

He leaned his head in and lowered his torso down to the point he was looking Nabiki in the eye as he said, "You know of course that I hate you?"

"Oh, I am so scared." was the middle Tendo's reply without a single hint of fear.

In another classroom in the same school...

"It seems we have a new student in class today. His name is Ranma Saotome and he has just returned from China, so lets give him a big Nihao welcome. This does not excuse the fact that he and Akane Tendo were late for class this morning, so go stand in the hall." said the teacher as Ranma stood before the class and Akane sat in her seat. Akane got up and moved to the back end of the class as she picked up a water bucket, Ranma followed suit and took his own bucket of water which was also sitting there.

Ranma followed Akane into the hall and stood holding the bucket in one hand as she held it in both of her hands. After a moment of silence, Akane spoke, "You know this is all your fault."

"Not completly my fault, but I do share some responibility. I should have figured out Kuno's fighting style sooner then that, which would have gotten us out of the rain faster and into the school quicker." said Ranma as he stood straight in the hallway.

"Well, I have the same fight every morning with those boys and Kuno. Every morning I fight and every morning I beat all of them. I manage to do all of this before the beginning of school everyday too." said Akane as she seemed to be holding a boiling anger at the moment.

"What was that all about anyway? Seems strange for an entire male student body to fight against one single girl, no matter how skilled she is with the martial arts."

"At the beginning of the semester, Kuno made this stupid speech..."

Quick Flashback to the beginning of the semester...

Kuno stood at a podium and spoke a crowd with a sign for the Furinkan High School Speech Contest hanging above him, " The vengeance of heaven is slow but sure. If you wish to take Akane Tendo out, you must defeat her in combat. I, Tatewaki Kuno, can accept no other am I making myself absolutely clear!"

End of the Flashback...

"Can he be any bigger an idiot?" asked Ranma outloud, which gave Akane a momentary smile across her lips.

Back in classroom 2-E...

"Fiance? He's her Fiance?" shouted the standing Kuno as he clutched the desk with his hands.

"No, I said that he was engaged to one of the Tendo sisters by arangement of my daddy. You were the one who jumped to the conclusion of him wanting to be married to Akane. He still hasn't decided to give up the engagement or to marry one of us girls, which ever girl he wants. " commented Nabiki, as she sat in a bored mood as she wonder what it was this wannabe Romeo would do. She had just mentioned at all for one reason, being the fact Kuno had donated for the information to the Nabiki Happiness Foundation. A quite sizable donation which would also be added to the Tendo Family Welliness Foundation.

"While your sister is a perfect wife for any man, she is too old for him. You are... you." this was the point Kuno was interrupted by Nabiki.

"Watch it, Kuno. Any insults and the price for your next purchase increases by one half, so I recommend that you watch what you say."

"But Akane is female perfection and the same age as the knave, which means she is the one more likely to be chosen as the gem of the Tendo family for the rogue to molest. I will not allow this fiercious tigress to be brutalized by this vermin! I WILL NOT! " continued Kuno before he was hit on the forehead by a chalk brush, as his teacher told him to stand in the hall.

"Yes, sir." replied the samurai loving student.

Back with Ranma and Akane...

"You fight with Kuno every morning?" asked Ranma as he stood still and looked out the windows of the hall.

"And somehow every morning I beat him, like I said before. Somehow. "

"Well, when a man fights against a woman he can take it easy on a woman. It not always feels right for a man to hit a woman, or a man might not want to hit her thinking her weaker then himself. A martial artist duty is not to harm those weaker then them..."

"What a sexist thing to..."

"Not finished, Akane. It is also a martial artist duty to help with the training of those weaker then themselves so they can reach an even playing field, but this is also helped by the martial artist seeking to strengthen themselves. You're a powerful fighter, but there are things which could be used to make you stronger."

"So you think you're better then me? Well, maybe we should spar a little. To make it 'fair', we can just fight each other as girls so you can't hold back because you're a boy." said the girl as she moved the bucket around to splash Ranma with the cold water inside.

"Don't you dare, Akane..." said Ranma a second before he jumped and dodged water coming in the opposite position. Water comming from a bucket being held by Kuno in his samurai outfit. Akane began to complain about the upperclassman but was stopped by the same man.

"Never Ranma Saotome, I will never accept your engagment to Akane Tendo!" shouted out Kuno as it bounced around the hall and into the class rooms.

This shocked the two students in the hall as windows from the classroom burst open to let the students inside out to comment on the announcement. Surprised and shock were the word as the different young men and women were speaking on top of each other.

"Wait, it's not true!" said Akane, as she tried to take control of the matter.

"The engagement is between me and one of the Tendo daughters, which could be any of the three and I still might find a way to cancel the engagement." answered Ranma with the bare truth of the matter. With this Ranma sense Kuno charge at him and Akane who held her back to his own, so instantly he shoved her out of the way and used the bucket to block the wooden sword. Taking care of the weapon, Ranma jumped over Kuno's head as he looked for a place to gain more space.

"This is no place to fight, if you want to fight... follow me." shouted Ranma as he looked back at the older man.

"That I shall, Ranma Saotome! " replyed the man with the wooden weapon as the two of them ran off.

A moment passed before Akane shouted as she tossed her pail, "They have got to be kidding! "

She and the rest of the students followed Ranma and Kuno. The pursuit turned from one hall to another, as Ranma sighted what he wanted... an open window. He called out, "Here's a nice shortcut, follow me if you can Kuno."

Kuno leapt out after Ranma as the two began to fall into the air, Ranma looking cocky as he knew something which Kuno didn't. The ability to land on the ground on his feet no matter the height. Akane had shouted about it being the third floor and Ranma said to her, "I'm alright, nothing to worry abou..."

Ranma looked down at the ground below him, the unsolid ground below him... inside the swimming pool. He mutter to himself, "Water, why does it have to be water? Flight of the bumblebee!" With this Ranma stopped a foot before the pool, only to be hit by the splash of Kuno diving into the water. Ranma looked down at the pool as in her other body and notice Kuno floating face up in the pool.

'Looks like the idiot is drowning... damn, my morals. Got to go in and rescue him from killing himself. Gills of the Fish.' she thought as she dove into the water, with the ability to breath the liquid in her lungs. She moved to lift the boy up... only for his hand to hit a rounded piece of her chest. This caused an instinctual reaction as she lifted him up and flung him from the pull, as the act caused an unconcious calling of animal strength to throw the fool.

As Kuno landed on the cement around the pool,.Ranma jumped from the pool and stepped on the face of the older student before running off to the forest which would cover her change for the moment.

A quick look at Kuno...

The older boy was reviewing the events in his mind... of Saotome falling out of the window and towards the pool. Of the might son of noblity which was the Kuno heir falling into the pool, of the female angel which had managed to rescue him from the water. All of this was trying to come to the right answer, dispite the fact the machinery which it was using was defective.

"Saotome must have tried to replace himself before he hit the water, replacing himself with the angel which saved my life. How low can a man be to allow a woman to suffer in his place, if Saotome can be called a man?"

In the forest...

Akane was walking into the forest with the one thing she knew would be needed for Ranma, given his... her situation. She noticed a wet spot growing on the ground near the tree and could hear Ranma's female voice start to speak, "Gee, Kuno didn't have to squeeze me so hard. Makes me wonder if I shouldn't have given him a kick to the nuts with the Strength of the Tiger. Well, I guess the curse is out on the open. I knew something would happen to bring it out, but I thought I could do it on my terms."

"Hey, Dummy. How stupid can you be?" said the youngest Tendo as she looked at the Saotome in the Tree.

"Are you talking about me? I don't think I'm stupid, ignorant maybe but not stupid." said Ranma as she had been wringing out her pnats to make them dry faster, leaving her only in her long Chinese style shirt.

"What about throwing yourself into a pool like that, isn't that stupid?"

"Not if I didn't know about the pool being there, that would be a cause of being ignorant of my surroundings. A big mistake on my part, but not stupid. I would have been fine if it had been solid ground. I have a lot of experience jumping off heights, just ask my father about his 'training'."

"Guess then you don't need this either, since you're so skilled." asked Akane, as she held up the kettle which was filled with hot water. The same hot water which could return Ranma to his male birth form.

"Akane, quit kidding around please. I need that so I don't have to come back to school with a lot more questions then we're getting now. So can you help me, please?"

It was the sounds of someone coming which stopped them, the most logical of which was... "Kuno's coming. Catch!" said Akane, as she tossed the tea pot to Ranma and moved away from Ranma. Ranma caught the metal container, yet there was a problem.

Akane, however, had moved to block the upperclassman from the location of the gender bender boy. She stood before the wooden sword boy. She held her fist to her wrist for a short time before moving then into a boxing like stance as she said, "Alright Kuno, I challenge you."

As Akane moved while in fighting form, Kuno responded, "Akane Tendo. Less the winning of the prize, make the prize light... I accept!"

Kuno moved his practice blade into position as Akane used her hands for the fight. Kuno spoke to his crush, "If you defeat me, you may have the pleasure of dating me. But be wary, I am prepared to lose."

The woman shot back at him, "You make it look like I want to date you or something! "

Kuno continued to approach the Tendo woman, Akane was thinking, "Ranma, change back into a boy while I buy you some time."

Ranma had her own problems as she was holding onto the branch she had been sitting on with her feet. She was almost horizontal while holding the kettle with her hands, unable to use the pot from position she was in.

As the fight with Akane continued, Kuno continued to draw nearer and nearer. Then his moved with speed as he launched forward as he swung his blade from the ground across his body into the air. She dodged this by jumping over his head and moving behind him. He swung behind him in a cross body blow, only for her to repeat her previous move. He charged her and used an overhead swing, only for her to stop it with her bare hands after moving back a step or two. He forced her back and back with his stance. He spoke to her two words, "You're mine!"

Akane just fell on her back, setting her feet up to kick the boy into the air at the same time while holding the sword of wood. Kuno was flung into the air over Akane... and into the wooded area behind her.

Back with Ranma...

"Step one, I have to get my balance back into position. Step two, I can use this to turn into a boy." said Ranma as she focused on the teapot, only for something to land on the top of the pot. Looking straight at her was an upside down Kuno with his arms crossed.

"We meet again." was the words the elder classman said, as Akane came running up with Kuno's sword in her hands.

"What's wrong with you? You're still a girl?" asked Akane as she stopped in front of the tree.

"Had a slight balance issue when you threw the pot up I was trying to straighten up. You might want to work on your aim." came the reply from the red headed girl, as she turned to look at the dark haired one.

"Tell me, have you seen a strange man with a pig tail? " asked Kuno as Ranma shook her head on instinct, yet again acting on his animal nature. The Upperclassman continued, "A coward dies so many times before there deaths. No doubt he fears my prowess. That man is no man, he is not a man."

Angry got the best of Ranma as she released the kettle and allowed Kuno to fall onto the ground... hard. The pot compressed as Kuno answered, "That hurts you know."

Ranma jump down off the tree and stood before the lone physical male there, "I'm not ready to take any of this for much longer. I am ready to take you on, right here and right now."

Kuno stood up from where he fell as Ranma moved into fighting position and spoke, "Very well, my fiery one. Beauty does persuade, if you can defeat me I will allow you to date me."

Kuno instantly took back his blade from Akane and moved to slash Ranma, who jumped out of the way of the wooden weapon. When Ranma landed, she was standing on the practice walked up the blade and gave Kuno a face full of foot as she said, "Who asked you for a date, anyway?"

Kuno fell down with a red blotch on his face, as Ranma made some kicks in the air before she landed on the ground. She moved over and kicked the wooden sword into the air in a spin before catching it in her hands, turning he head back to Kuno as she walked away to tell him, "I should warn you, Ranma Saotome is a better martial artist then even I am. Come on Akane, let's go home."

"But it's not even lunch yet?" answered the dark haired girl as she followed the red-haired woman who was walking off.

Kuno spoke his last words before falling under, "She is formable, but who is she?"

Later at the Tendo home...

Kasumi was washing the dishes while humming a little tune. Nabiki was teasing her younger sister after the day they had at school, "Giving Ranma the world tour, I see."

"Quit it, Nabiki. I never asked for all of this." answered the younger girl.

In the gym, Ranma and his father were standing on their heads. Genma spoke first, "From what I hear, Akane really looked out for you in school today, Boy."

"It's not like I asked her too." was the younger Saotome's reply. This caused the father to spring up onto his feet.

"Foolish boy, have you learned nothing." As he moved Ranma's legs together, and kicked his arms out from under him. In a quick move, her moved Ranma around and into a sitting position on his shins. Genma growled at his boy with his fist shaking at the older man's hips.

"Here we go again." said Ranma as he rolled his eyes. Genma walked a little distance before speaking.

"You wound me, boy. I taught you better manners then this, to ignore a debt of honour. Sixteen years, I have tried to give you the benefit of my wisdom. Ranma... I... your father... What good are these hands if they can't teach you to walk the path of martial righteousness. Oh my son, my only son. Oh my son... your father has failed." said Genma, in the middle of which he started to cry and gesturing his outrage with his fist. When he finished he turned around into a bucket of cold water being kicked at him by Ranma. Pail hit head before the man became panda, before pail made a return upside down on the panda's head. The panda began to growl at Ranma before the responded.

"Sorry, thought you needed to cool down. "

Panda continue to lecture in the forms of growls, before snorting and walking away... only to bang into the door frame. Getting through, he slamed the door behind him as Ranma laughed at him.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: This is a parody inspired by the works of Ms. Takahashi. All characters that I have not created or borrowed from other sources are his. This is a Fan fiction and not meant to violate the rights of those who own the rights to the Ranma One Half series .I have no money and therefore not a good suing target. Thank you very much.

The Way of the Beast

Chapter Five

Ranma began to meditate on the events of the failed day at school and the conflict with Kuno. How he had been protected by Akane, even if the girl had left him in an awkward position with the kettle in the tree. Akane had stood up against Kuno, which would not have been a problem given the way Kuno was not going all out when fighting her. Akane would be able to prevent the older teen from arriving at the tree, if she had not punted him in his direction.

'Still Pops is right for once, I should have thanked her for the effort she had made for me. Even if having to deal with Kuno made me too frustrated to think straight. Having to master my emotions with discipline is not easy. Too little discipline and I head to the primal aspects I gain from my training, too much and I come off as some old zen master rather then my own age. Finding the right balance is troublesome, especially with all of the hormones which are flooding my body now.' Ranma was discovering his his chemically enhanced emotions were getting him to feel more primal with greater ease. Which caused him to counter with an emotional mature which was unnatural in someone his age.

When he had seen the lovely Tendo daughters, his primal instincts were to claim them as his females. Much like an alpha male in many packs of animals would take the females in his groups as his mates, it was worse when he had seen Akane naked which made his own body reaction for sex come forward. Ranma's natural martial arts appitutide kicked in and he countered his emotions with control. Yet nature was not something which could be overcome without challenges.

'If Akane knew what I did when I got the time to release the drives her sisters and herself caused in me, I would be on the pervert express to the greater Tokyo area. Let's hope no one knows what I did in the bathroom.

Still, I should be focused on the thank you I should be giving Akane for her help.' thought Ranma as he got up from his lotus position in his shared room and headed for the youngest Tendo's room. He approached the door in silence, but the voices in the other side were not.

Nabiki was discussing the arranged engagement and the problems at school, when Akane made her feelings known when she told her sister in a loud voice, "I'm engaged to my worse nightmare.

'Damn, the burn hurts. But my gut's telling me that's not the main problem, and my brain's telling me she's just frustrated with the situation she's in. Given what she has to put up with in the morning, most males her own age group are going to be seen as the enemy. Now is not the time for giving her any thank you, since she's not in a very welcoming mood. Best to wait for a moment where she has had time to cool down.

Still, what can I do right now? Not sure if it's the right time for training, given I don't know how the Tendos table their time. Don't want to be destructive or loud katas if they are going to have some quiet moments to themselves. Morning fights against Pops aside." thought Ranma as he hopped down the stairs to meditate in the garden.

Unfortunately, Kasumi was comming up with some water. This startled both of them causing Ranma to fall and wrap his arms around the oldest daughter and caused her to cry out. Tossed into the air was the water bucket, as Ranma tried to get his footing as well as get out of this embarassing situation. He moved back on the stair he was on as Kasumi tried to get back her calm expression.

Nearby, Genma and Soun returning from the public baths were now coated with cold water. Which meant a man and a panda was standing staring.

The next morning...

Kasumi was walking through the house when she caught sight of Mr. Saotome sitting on porch looking at the paper. She asked him politely, "Do you want me to heat up some water for you, Mr. Saotome? "

Her father walked by while brushing his teeth. Speaking with his mouth full of brush and foam, "No, he says it's not worth the effort." Soun then passed on to the next room.

The panda nodded and turned to the paper.

Elsewhere...

Ranma was practicing his balance by walking on the fence as he was walking by Akane. He tried to ask without causing any anger, "With those boys at school coming after you again this morning, would you like help with it or do you want to handle this one your own?"

"We don't know each other remember." said the girl in a cold tone, which hinted at burning embers of rage.

"They are still going to be there and I thought you might want some help to get through them so we're not late for class again. I know I don't want to be holding buckets of cold water for any reason, especially since the water heater at home seems to be busted." said the sex-changing boy as he pointed out his unique problems.

"I can handle it myself, I'm on time usually. Yesterday was a fluke due to you being here. I can make it in on time without your help. If you're worried avout cold water, just head in as fast as possible and forget about me." said the Tendo daughter as they soon approached the school.

As they entered the school grounds as Akane turned and tossed her bag to Ranma, "Here, hold this."

She moved into a fighting stance as a tennis player rushed her and tried to hit her with his racket. Only for her to dodge and strike him from behind. She dodged and swerved around the men, hands hitting with slaps or punches, feet kicking and tripping. She faced most of the sports teams from baseball, soccer, hockey, basketball and even sumo. Even the dance team was beaten to the point of loosing a couple of his teeth from the force of the hit. Ranma was just following the path of the fallen as they moved closer to the doors.

"I just wish for once these guys would just give it a rest for once." said Akane after caughting the breaths lost to all of the physical activities.

Ranma was just wondering one thing, 'Where is Kuno? He should be here if he's the one who got all of the boys to bullrush Akane all morning? Why is he not here trying to get his "tigress" to fall for his "charms" ?'

On the roof of the same high school...

Standing on top of the school clock tower, stood Kuno looking at the school grounds below. He asked himself out loud, "Whether the pig-tailed, tree-borne kettle girl? "

Into the high school classroom now...

Nabiki in her school uniform was taking a seat on top of the desk of another student, this student being Kuno.

"Are you looking for her?" asked Nabiki as she watched Kuno eat a snack.

"You know of her?" was the reply to her question.

"She's like a sister, she has a pig-tail and wears chinese cloths, right? " told the middle Tendo as she waited for the answer. She was locating a source of potential yen infusion to her life. She just had to see what Kuno was willing to do, and what it was he was willing to pay for her help.

"Triffle not with me, Nabiki." countered the male student, a sense of disbelief in his voice.

"Moi? "

"Am I not the shooting star of Furinken High Kendo team, the Blue Thunder? If the pig-tailed girl thinks she can humiliate me and walk away, me thinks she thinks wrong. Indeed. " commented the boy as he stabbed his bento box with his chopsticks and began to laugh like a madman. At this his whole class looked at him like he was a train wreck they could not look away from.

We return to the Tendo home and dojo where a panda is cleaning the sidewalk and two teens are fighting in the dojo...

"Aren't tired of having to fight all of those boys in school each morning? " asked Ranma as he dodged out of the way of his female combatant's fist, with a slight move of the head with little energy. Then he shifted his head and shoulders again to move away from her other fist.

"I sure do." she answered as a kick was give and he had to hold it back with his hands, and then used it as a spring board to vault over her head. He landed on the other side of the room as she turned to look at her. He was trying to decide if giving her the traditional Saotome insults which went with his training or if she didn't have the self control over her angry to realize what it was.

He was interrupted as the door behind him slided open and a hand with a note popped out of it. On the folded letter was the words, "To the Tree-borne Kettle Girl" . As Nabiki came in th follow her arms, she said, "Looks like your mail's here, Ranma."

"Who's it from? asked Ranma as wanted to discount who it was likely from.

"It's from Kuno, to your girl half. He has no idea the two of you are one and the same. So what does it say?" asked Nabiki as the two other teen sat on the floor of the dojo.

"Tree-borne kettle girl, meet me on the soccer field of Furinken high school at 5:36 pm. Come alone." read the boy out loud to all in the room.

"Sounds like a duel." said Akane as she looked over Ranma's shoulder.

"You should know that Kuno is a real poor loser. He's likely out for blood for this." said Nabiki as she crouch down.

"Maybe it's best if you didn't go?" said the youngest of the Tendo daughters.

"Whether it's a duel or a challenge, I have to accept it. It's the way of the Saotome school. So I guess that I'm going to the field at five thirty." he said as he looked at the note.

Later after waiting and planning...

Ranma was standing out in the field and was upset, "He's late, and he picked the time for the thing in the first place. What a loser."

A few second more and Kuno approached from the sunset, speaking as he walked, "For it so falls out for what we have we prize not the worth whiles we enjoy it, for being lacked and lost, by then we rack the value, we find the virtue the item would not show us while it twas ours. It is now exactly five thirty six pm, the moment when the sunset is at it's most beautiful. For it is the rising young star of the kendo world, who shines before you. They call me the blue thunder of Furinken High, it is I, Tatewaki Kuno. Who has beconed you to me."

"So Kuno, where is you weapon? Why aren't you carrying it here?" asked Ranma, curious at what kind of duel this was.

"I have no need for it." said the older boy as he turned his head to the side for dramatic effect.

"Pretty confident, then?" she said as she tried to judge what kind of fighter her opponent is.

"Confident to give you this." Kuno for a second seemed to be moving into a fighting stance before throwing something at Ranma. She caught it, only to see it was some kind of assortment of flowers. Red roses.

Kuno turned and walked towards the sunset saying, "Pig-tailed girl, I love you."

The information was trying to compute with his human upper brain, but his beastly lower brain started his movement before he could think. She charged after Kuno with advance speed as she cried out her attack, "Fist of the Violent Gorilla!"

The fist was an uppercut which shot Kuno up into the air and into the distance until he resembled a twinking star. Ranma stopped and thought to herself as she computed what she had just did, 'Okay, developed a new, weird attack with massive firepower. Why do I have these images of Akane in my mind all of a sudden? Great, thanks to Kuno I have the urge to wash myself down over and over again.'

The next day...

Ranma had woken up early due to the nightmares of naked, lovestruck Kunos. Nightmares he was trying to dispel along with the urge to remove the internal organs of the boy with mediation. He thought to himself with his eyes closed and his legs folded into the lotus position, "Not sure if this is being effective in any way what so ever. Still have to go to school today."

Ranma was very quiet this morning which moved through breakfast into the walk to school. Akane looked at him as if to judge what was wrong as she asked, "What's wrong with you? You look terrible."

"Had to deal with disturbing thoughts last night, which afflicted me with nightmares, which also caused me to wake up early this morning. I'm hoping to get those agressive feelings from those nightmares out on the hentai horde which is after you. So would it be alright with you if I took on most of the boys this morning? " asked the boy as he balanced on the chain-linked fence.

"Not too much as long as it's not just an excuse to fight my battles, and you save some of them for me." said the girl as they rushed to class and into a mob of males. Males who managed to get knocked down onto the pavement in rapid time.

As a teacher was shouting down the students for the start of school, Kuno came rushing out with his wooden sword rised. His shout was clear, "Akane Tendo, I would challenge you."

Akane jumped to attack, but Ranma could not stop himself from following her lead with his own kick. Both of their feet found the face of Kuno and pushed him on his backside. Then they walked into the classroom together.

Later in the nurses office...

Nabiki was in the room, rincing out a cloth for Kuno's smashed head. She told him, "Take my advice, Kuno, you really have to work on your technique."

Kuno bolted up into a sitting position before the cloth could reach him. He spoke as he moved his hands in front of him as his hands seemed to be trying to grip something, "Ah, my goddess in pig-tails, I shall never let you go, my love."

He then lay down on the nurse's office bed, before a wide eyed Nabiki. She then asked, "Pig-tailed girl?"

Kuno popped up again and said, "No Akane, you don't understand. I love you like no other." This was followed by him laying down again. Then he sat again and turned towards Nabiki, "Oh, you pig-tailed goddess, I would date with you."

Again this was followed by laying down. He made one more move by popping up and taking Nabiki's hand as he asked, "Please Akane allow me to date with you?"

The reply was wash bason to the head by Nabiki. She asked him, "Are you quite finished now, Kuno?"

Kuno was sitting up, arms crossed and a dented washpan on his head like a sailor hat. He said to her, "That hurt, Nabiki Tendo."

Nabiki countered, "Is dating girls the only thing which you think about Kuno?"

"Do not fear Nabiki, I have no intention of asking you out."

"Oh, I am so disappointed."

Back at the Tendo home and school...

Nabiki had returned home, thinking of the situation with Kuno. Thinking of ways to take advantage of it, similar to the ways she had with Akane. Once at home she had asked Kasumi where Ranma was, and was rewarded with the news he was in his bed asleep. Carefully filling a pail with slightly cool water, she used this to turn the sleeping boy into a girl. Removing her camera, she started to take photos of the slumbering girl, in boxers and a white wife-beater shirt.

As she finished, she said to herself, "This is too easy."

To mask her mission, she poored warm water onto Ranma to return her into a him. She took both items and said "Ta-ta" as she left. Leaving Ranma in a wet puddle of water, looking like he had wet himself during his nap.

Soon after Ranma woke up and saw the mess, he felt it and noticed it was warm. He then took to sniffing it close to his nose and then licking it with his tongue. He could tell from those two acts something obvious, 'It's not urine. It would have more of an smell of ammonia, this is scentless and tasteless. Well, other then the cotton of the sheets and mats. So I would say it's water. So who's been splashing me in my sleep?"

Outside...

Nabiki was using her camera again to take shots of Akane going though her exercise routine, lifing weights up and down. Akane finally noticed her sister, but was given the reply, "Just ignore me, keep on with what you are doing."

As they continued what they were doing, an arrow came within feet of Nabiki. On this arrow was some kind of note tied to it. They girls soon had the note and were reading it, "Dear Nabiki Tendo, how the spring of joy resembles the glory of an April day. Anyway, meet me tomorrow at the cafe. Tatewaki Kuno"

The younger sister looked to her elder one with worry, "You're not going to go, are you?"

Nabiki nodded with this turn of events.

The Next Day at the Cafe...

As Nabiki entered she noticed Kuno sitting alone, among the crowd of women chatting and giggling. In his hands was a doll.

Once seat, with a meal on Kuno's bill, she asked him, "What is with you? It's not like you to treat a girl to snacks?"

"I have a favour to ask." said Kuno as Nabiki started to eat, "Keep in mind that a man of my stature is not accustomed to asking for favours. You would best head my warning as much ill can come from not taking me seriously."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, now spill it already. What can I do for you, Kuno? " said Nabiki between sips of her noddles.

"I shall swallow my pride. It's this!" said Kuno as he thrusted out the doll. It was a blond and blue eye figure in a pink dress with an apron stitched with a rose on the bottom.

"What is this?" asked Nabiki as she was a little put off.

"It's a cute little dolly." was the reply, which was also obvious.

"I know that. I mean what is it for?" asked Nabiki, still confused and glaring at Kuno.

"It's a present."

"No thanks." she replied as she waved it away with her hand.

"I never said it was for you, Nabiki. It's a token of my affections for the pig-tailed one." said Kuno as the answer.

Nabiki looked at the doll and thought of Ranma as well as the react he would give this. It took a few seconds for it to sink in, and then she broke out in laughter. Food spilled out of her mouth and onto Kuno's face. Upset for wasting free food, she told him, "Now look at what you made me do?"

"So sweet your discourse..." replied Kuno with a twitching brow.

"You must really have a thing for that pig-tailed girl, eh Kuno?" asked Nabiki as she crossed her legs. She continued with her plans, "I just happen to have some photos."

"Photos?" shouted Kuno in dismay as he finished wiping his face.

"You want to see them?" asked Nabiki as she placed her head in her hand.

"Well, I..." Said Kuno with a shake of his head.

"Buy me another bowl of noddles and I might be able to show you."

"This is torture, I..."

"If you don't want to see them, just say so. If you want to see them, it's going to cost you at least a bowl of ramen."


End file.
